VIA HD Audio Deck mic input problems on XP fix

Bought a new web cam and wanted to record through an external mike
ok so I was having problems with my external mike. no input.
The via control panel said it was there but with it turned up I couldn't get any input from the mike jack on the mobo.
Went to Device Manager and ran a test but it said It couldn't hear my mike.
I knew my hardware was working cables, mike, and such. I had line in and out.
To make a long story short
I had to right click on the windows generic speaker icon in the task bar
clicked open volume control no mike volume control was showing.
Up in top left corner click options > properties >
in the properties window Mixer device > HD audio rear input_Recording
I noticed the microphone was not checked in the show the following volume controls window.
I checked it, clicked OK, closed everything. I went back to the windows volume control panel and the mike was there but muted so I unchecked it and bingo